Prophets & prophecy
The servant of Isaiah 42
Isaiah 42 describes God’s chosen servant, who will bring justice to the nations, and a new song that rises from the villages of Kedar. Christians read it as Jesus; Muslims see Muhammad ﷺ. This topic looks at what the chapter says.
1The question
Who is the servant God upholds in Isaiah 42?
2What Christians believe
Christians read Isaiah 42 as a prophecy of Jesus, because Matthew quotes it directly about him (Matthew 12:17–21). The servant’s gentleness, “a bruised reed shall he not break” (Isaiah 42:3), fits Jesus’s ministry of healing without seeking fame.
Jewish readers have usually seen the servant as the nation of Israel, whom Isaiah addresses as “thou, Israel, art my servant” (Isaiah 41:8). Christians answer that Israel fell short of the calling, and Jesus fulfils it.
3What the texts say
The servant
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
A new song and the villages of Kedar
Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
Who is Kedar?
And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
The Christian reading
Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
4What scholars say
In 1892 Bernhard Duhm identified four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah (42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12). Claus Westermann (Isaiah 40–66, 1969) and others have debated who the servant is: the nation of Israel, the prophet himself, a future figure, or a mix of these.
Scholars agree that Kedar was an Arab people, named in Genesis as descended from Ishmael, who lived in the desert east and south of Israel.
Some Muslim writers also link Sela, “the rock” of the King James wording, with Mount Sala (Sal’) in Medina. That link is not accepted by most biblical scholars.
5The Islamic perspective
Muslims point to the details. The servant brings judgement to the nations and will not fail until he has set justice in the earth; the isles wait for his law. The new song comes from the wilderness and the villages of Kedar, the line of Ishmael. And the Lord goes forth “as a mighty man” against his enemies. The Qur’an speaks of the Prophet ﷺ in similar terms:
We sent thee not save as a mercy for the peoples.
He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it conqueror of all religion however much idolaters may be averse.
Muslims see a servant who brings a law to the nations, from among the Arabs of Kedar, and whose cause prevails, which describes the life of Muhammad ﷺ more closely than one who was rejected in his lifetime.
6Objections and responses
“Matthew 12:18 quotes Isaiah 42 about Jesus, so the servant is Jesus.”
Response: Matthew applies the opening verses to Jesus’s gentleness. But he does not quote the rest of the chapter, where the servant sets judgement in the earth, the villages of Kedar rejoice and the Lord prevails against his enemies (42:4, 11, 13). Muslims ask that the whole chapter be read together.
“Isaiah calls Israel God’s servant, so this is about the nation.”
Response: Isaiah does call Israel a servant (41:8). But in 42:6 the servant is given “for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles”, which treats him as a person sent to a people, not the people themselves. That is why many Jewish and Christian readers also see an individual here.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that Isaiah 42 describes a chosen servant who brings justice to the nations and that the chapter names Kedar, the line of Ishmael. Christians see Jesus, following Matthew. Muslims see a lawgiver from among the Arabs whose cause prevailed, and find in Muhammad ﷺ the clearest fit.
Read all of Isaiah 42:1–13, not only the verses Matthew quotes, and ask who fits every line.
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Related topics
Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Isaiah 42:1Isaiah 42:2Isaiah 42:4Isaiah 42:10Isaiah 42:11Isaiah 42:13Genesis 25:13Matthew 12:18
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 21:107Qur’an 61:9
- Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40–66 (1969)
- Bernhard Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia (1892)